by Rosie Sams
Sam reached the stage first. He grabbed Claudia away from the box and clutched her to him, shielding her eyes. Clive stood frozen off stage; his mouth gaped open in shock. Alvin and Wilbur flew past him as they looked inside the casket.
Quickly, Wilbur grimaced, and turned his head away from the crime scene. He stepped to the side and phoned the station. “This is Deputy Byrd. I’m going to need all available units at the Port Warren Playhouse right now. Send the coroner, too. We have a deceased male. His throat is slit clean through. Have units seal the perimeter upon arrival.” He disconnected the line. “Sheriff, I’ll head down and start crowd control. People are already slipping out the doors.”
Alvin nodded in agreement.
Melody took Wilbur’s place by the casket. She looked inside but quickly looked away. Rockford’s carotid artery was severed. Aerial spray coated the inside cover of the sarcophagus. The blood on the floor was a small puddle compared to the sheer volume that filled the casket.
“Clive, bring down the curtain now!” Alvin said. “Clive… CLIVE… Hey, are you hearing me?”
Clive, once frozen, snapped into action when Alvin yelled, and brought down the curtain to shield the scene from any remaining audience members.
“That is not what we rehearsed!” Claudia’s voice was shrill and choppy through her tears. “He assured me he had plenty of room in there for the blades to intersect without touching him. I’ve seen it work with my own eyes during rehearsal. The slots are designed to slightly angle the blades up and away from his body. We practiced it again, and again! I’m not going to jail, am I?”
“Sam, take her into your office. I’ll meet you back there just as soon as we get everything under control here,” Alvin said. “Stay with her. Don’t let anyone else talk to her or go in or out of the office.”
But as Sam guided Claudia toward the backstage, Thelma suddenly appeared, and blocked their path. “Why don’t you want anyone talking to her, Sheriff? Are you trying to cover this up? Clearly, she murdered Rocky. She screwed up the trick because she’s nothing but a novice! Had I been there, none of this would have happened, and Rocky would still be alive!” Thelma choked through her accusations.
Claudia pulled away from Sam. “I didn’t do this, Thelma! Something else had to have gone wrong. It’s not my fault! Sam, do something!”
“Sheriff, I demand you arrest this pathetic excuse of an assistant! Three hundred witnesses watched her murder Rocky in cold blood.” Thelma was livid and irrational.
“Claudia did not murder Rockford in cold blood. Settle down!” Alvin said to Thelma. She opened her mouth to say more, but Alvin held up a hand toward her. “Not another word. Sam, go on, take Claudia to the office. Clive, take Thelma to the front row, and keep her there.” Alvin had no interest in the former assistant’s demands. He had a murder to solve, and a theater of, as she put it, 300 witnesses to question.
“Mel, watch this box. Don’t let anyone near it. Claudia said something important, but I need to get the audience sorted first, so I can properly examine it.”
Melody nodded hearing Alvin’s orders and stood guard. She peeked inside while Alvin pushed through the curtain.
Most of the theater had emptied within minutes. There was no way Alvin and Wilbur could control that volume of people without backup, but he could hear the sirens getting louder, as they arrived. He addressed those that were still inside. “Attention, everyone. I need you to take a seat, please. Do not attempt to leave. I am the sheriff of Port Warren and this facility is now in lockdown.”
The remaining audience groaned in unison. Some of the guests yelled impatiently at the sheriff. They were upset because they had sitters for their children and needed to get home.
“I promise to have all of you out of here as soon as possible. The officers will be talking with each of you shortly. In the meantime, please call your sitters, families, and friends, and have them help you. No one leaves until we get to the bottom of the Resplendent Rockford’s murder.”
“He’s not so resplendent anymore, is he?” a heckler said loud enough for everyone to hear. The comment encouraged both laughs and chastisement for its level of insensitivity.
Wilbur returned to the stage with Leslie. “Sheriff, we have teams sealing the perimeter of the building. Johnson has the side door to the alley covered. Matthews is upfront with a bunch of deputies dealing with the crowd.
“Good. We’re going to need a record of all tickets sold for this evening’s event. We need to understand who was in this building from the time the doors opened until now. Claudia said they practiced this act before the show, so we know no one tampered with it until after rehearsals.”
“That didn’t leave much time for someone to tamper with it before the show,” Melody added.
Alvin examined the outside of the box near the point of the blade’s entry. The slot appeared smooth for the most part. As he looked closer, he noticed that it was, except the very bottom portion of it. “Mel, take a look at this. Claudia said the slots were designed in such a way to angle the blades upward, but it looks like someone altered this slot, making it wider than the width of the blade.”
She lowered her face to where Alvin was pointing. She saw what he noticed right away. Someone had elongated the slot by carving an extra inch of space at the bottom. “It looks like someone jabbed something in there to lower the blade’s entry point, maybe a knife or something?”
“That’s exactly right. I’m thinking a screwdriver. See how some of the marks are wide and flat. They’re blunt like the end of a Phillips. Whoever did this made sure to extend the slot enough so that the blade entered an inch lower than it was supposed to, instead of lining up the proper way.”
“But is an inch enough to make a difference?” she asked.
“The dangerous illusions are designed to confuse the audience. Sometimes, an inch or less is all you need to pull off the trick. They wouldn’t work if the audience didn’t believe a risk was involved. If this box looked big enough to keep him safe, then there’s no illusion. An inch, in this case, would have given him more than enough space not to be injured by the blade. The tampering was just subtle enough that no one ever noticed it, including Rockford. I doubt Claudia could have done this, and my betting is she was too inexperienced to notice it.”
“I guess, but maybe she stayed after rehearsal and altered the slots?”
“But why? What would have been her motive? She already had the job. Thelma would know the trick better, and she has a motive.”
“Al,” Melody said lowering her voice to a whisper. “I have to check on Smudge. She’s all alone, and we’re going to be here for hours.” With Alvin intentionally detaining people in the theater, she didn’t want anyone to discover that she was also trying to slip out.
“Ok, use the side door, and bring her back with you. You’re right; this may take a while.” His eyes searched the crowd. “Wilbur!” Alvin motioned for him to join them. Once he did, Alvin asked him to escort Melody to the side entrance. “Once you have Smudge, come back in the way you came. Wilbur, make sure Johnson knows that no one but Melody tries to pull a disappearing act. In the meantime, I’m going to start questioning the suspects.”
Chapter One Hundred Ninety-Six
After collecting Smudge, Melody texted Alvin to let her know she was on her way back. She parked the car half a block away and then quickly trotted to the side door of the theater. Smudge ran alongside her, her dog tags jingling in the night air. As they approached the side door, she heard a noise in the alley, but she didn’t see anything when her eyes scanned the area. Plus, Smudge hadn’t barked. She knocked on the door three times.
“Secret knocks are usually more inventive than that.” A man stepped out of a shadowy corner, revealing himself. Melody recognized him as Wayne Arlen.
“Do you always lurk in dark alleys and pop out on unsuspecting women?” she asked.
Wayne stepped closer to her and Smudge, who was now standing in front of Melody protect
ively. She growled lowly, letting the man know not to come any closer. He scoffed at her diminutive size. “Sometimes, I prefer quiet spaces. It’s not as noisy out here as it is in there.” He motioned to the theater entrance.
Where is a cop when you need him? Melody thought to herself. Johnson was supposed to let her back inside. “Well, I’m sure you’ve heard the news by now, so why are you hanging around? Are you not going to be satisfied until you see the body roll out?”
“I guess I could go. I got what I wanted, which was to see Rockford fail miserably without Thelma, and that he did.” Wayne laughed sinisterly. “You know, he once told me that the day he let an assistant control his destiny would be the day he died. Ironic!”
“How did you know Thelma wasn’t working tonight?” she asked, curiously. He didn’t answer her, so she pressed. “Are you in contact with her? She said she switched loyalties. Did she leave you for Rockford?”
“You’re ruining the quiet out here, shouldn’t you be sneaking back inside by now?” Wayne responded weakly.
“That’s it? That’s all you have to say?” Melody asked. Smudge huffed at the man. “I think Thelma was your assistant, but she saw you were old news. Rockford started making a name for himself, so she hopped on his coattails. She saw him as her ticket to Las Vegas, the magician mecca. Rockford stole your tricks, and your girl - and you wanted revenge.
Wayne listened to her intently. His face was vacant of expression, but he didn’t deny it. In fact, he agreed. “Of course, I wanted revenge. You do see me lurking in an alley while Rockford sells out theater after theater, including a small town one like this. Who did he think he was luring Thelma away? She didn’t just drop me. He manipulated her. She and I were headed to Vegas on our own ticket, and Vegas is a big town. There’s plenty of room for magicians. As you put it, it’s our mecca. You see, I didn’t care that he stole the acts. I could always create others. I cared that he took Thelma. Her, I couldn’t duplicate. She’s one-of-a-kind.”
Shocked, Melody stepped back and pounded on the door again, “Johnson! Open this door. I have a suspect here!”
Wayne laughed as he watched Melody pound on the door. Menacingly, he closed the space between them, not caring one bit that Melody had Smudge with her. “I’ll be gone before they open that door, but I challenge this. Let’s see if you can pull a rabbit out of a hat and prove that I was involved with Rockford’s crime.”
Melody swallowed hard as the man cornered her against the door.
Smudge growled louder at the man. The growls turned into savage barks! Wayne went to kick her out of the way, but Smudge was having none of that! She lunched for the cuff of his pant leg and latched her teeth onto it! Surprised by the little dog’s gumption, he shook his leg, trying to detach her. “Get off! Get it off!”
Seizing the opportunity, the fiery redhead lunged at the man, “Don’t you hurt my dog!” The three were mid-scuffle when the theater’s side door swung open.
“What is going on here? Melody? Smudge?” Alvin raced into the alley with Johnson behind him.
Chapter One Hundred Ninety-Seven
“Take him to one of the dressing rooms. I want two men guarding him. They don’t take their eyes off him,” Alvin said as they hauled Wayne inside.
As they dragged him toward one of the dressing rooms, he crossed paths with Thelma. They locked eyes for a moment before one of the cops ordered him to keep moving.
Melody caught them exchanging glances, but Thelma scurried away. Wayne yelled out, “I’m innocent! You will have to do better than this! You can’t pin me to this murder because I didn’t do it!”
“I’m telling you, Al, he practically admitted to the whole thing. Did you see how they looked at each other?” Melody asked.
Alvin stroked Smudge’s ears. He was very impressed with the little pup’s bravery. “Let’s go question Thelma. She knows a lot more than she’s letting on. I suspect there was more to their relationship than just magician and assistant. I think I uncovered some info that may encourage her to talk. You know how she refers to Rockford as ‘Rocky’?”
“Yes, I noticed that.”
“Yeah, well, I found it to be a little intimate. Kind of how you call me Pooh Bear sometimes.”
“I have never called you Pooh Bear, not even once.”
“I know, but I wouldn’t mind it.”
“You’re drifting, Al.”
“Boom, that’s what I’m talking about. Everyone else calls me Alvin or Sheriff, but you, my fiancée, call me ‘Al’ sometimes.”
“And you sometimes call me ‘Mel’, what’s your point?”
“My point is that The Resplendent Rockford was adamant that everyone refers to him as such. Clive went as far as repeatedly correcting everyone. But no one corrected Thelma when she referred to Rockford as Rocky. Plus, I’m getting tired of her weak accusations. She’s only doing what she does best.”
“What’s that?” Melody asked.
“Creating a distraction.”
“Well, she won’t be hard to find. Just follow the sound of her cough.”
They found Thelma, or at least, heard her coughing in a relatively large dressing room. Between coughing and sneezing fits, she stuffed her belongings into a suitcase.
“Are you well enough to travel?” Alvin asked curiously as he spied Thelma packing in her dressing room. Melody followed him into the room. As she looked around, she noticed an open box of her own chocolate frosted rainbow cookies on Thelma’s dressing table, but the cookies were oddly arranged in the shape of a heart. Smudge was off leash. Her nose twitched as she caught the scent of something in the air.
“Doesn’t anyone knock anymore?” Thelma hissed. “Don’t worry, I’m not leaving town. I want to get my stuff and go to my hotel. I need my rest.”
“That’s a reasonable request. Are you sure you want to go back to that room?” Alvin asked.
“What are you getting at, Sheriff?”
“I’ve done a bit of digging. It seems you and The Resplendent Rockford were sharing a room with a king-size bed.”
Melody exchanged knowing glances with Alvin. Thelma stopped packing and put her hands on her hips. She resisted coughing long enough to ask, “And what’s it to you? Just because I was sleeping with him doesn’t mean I wanted him dead.”
“No, but maybe you lost control once you found out he replaced you with Claudia. First, he replaced you on stage. Maybe the bedroom was next.”
“You were pretty angry, Thelma,” Melody said. “We all witnessed your reaction to seeing Claudia in your costume. Did Rockford seduce you away from Wayne with the promise of love and money? Maybe you were worried he’d made Claudia the same offer. It’s a good reason to be angry with him, and a rookie like Claudia would be easy to pin for the murder.”
Alvin liked where Melody was going with her line of questioning. “Did you call Wayne to come rescue you? Is that why he showed up today?”
“Stop it, both of you. Claudia could never replace me, not on the stage and certainly not in our bed,” Thelma said defensively. “Rocky needed me more than I needed him. I’m the one that knows Wayne’s secrets and shared them with Rocky. Wayne never liked Rocky.” She scoffed at the thought of Rocky stealing directly from Wayne. “He wouldn’t show him a simple card trick, let alone something as dangerous as the Slaughtering Sarcophagus. I’m the one that taught Rocky everything he knows.” From the corner of her eye, Thelma caught Smudge sniffing around her stuff. “Hey, can you watch your dog? I’m allergic.” Smudge had been exploring the dressing room, but ultimately her little nose led her to Thelma’s suitcase.
“Were you more than Wayne’s assistant, too? How did you get him to reveal his secrets? Was it because you were his lover?” Melody asked as she motioned to Smudge. Smudge stopped sniffing the suitcase but laid down next to it like she was guarding it.
Just as Thelma was about to respond to Melody’s intrusive question, Wayne burst into the room! He had one handcuff attached to his wrist, but the other
dangled open and loose. It would appear he escaped the cuffs, and his guards. Upon seeing this, Alvin groaned and rolled his eyes.
“Thelma! I love you! I’m here for you, baby!” Wayne yelled, distracting them all, albeit unintentionally.
Smudge seized the opportunity and dove head-first into Thelma’s suitcase! She dug around quickly and snatched something in her teeth.
“Hey! I told you to get that dog out of my stuff!” Thelma said as she lunged for Smudge, but Smudge ran right to Melody and dropped a folded piece of paper at her feet. Melody snatched it up quickly while Alvin grabbed Wayne and pressed him against the wall.
“This looks like a diagram for the Slaughtering Sarcophagus!” she said as she held it up for Alvin to see. He scanned it quickly.
“Well, it looks like this act just heated up. I guess you had a plan all along,” Alvin said. “Thelma Ford, you’re under arrest for the murder of The Resplendent Rockford. Now, the only question is if you acted alone, or if this guy is your accomplice.” He tightened his grip on Wayne’s arm.
“No! We didn’t do it! We’re both innocent! Wayne had nothing to do with it, and I would never have hurt Rocky! I loved him!” Thelma protested.
Wayne deflated in front of them and stopped struggling as he heard her declaration of love for Rocky.
Chapter One Hundred Ninety-Eight
“Sheriff, take me. Thelma is innocent. I will admit to everything. I know exactly how Rockford died, and I planted the plans in her bag!” Wayne said.
Melody suspected Wayne was heartbroken over Thelma’s admission, but did he really do it, or was he trying to protect her?